Is JaMarcus Russell Inaccurate or Are the Oakland Receivers Too Fast?

Obviously, I cannot speculate from first-hand experience, but it seems to me that Oakland quarterback JaMarcus Russell has accuracy problems when he throws at faster receivers.

When he throws at tight-end Zach Miller, he seems to catch everything. Miller fell to the second round of the 2007 Draft because of a slow time in the 40 at only 4.72.

Meanwhile, Russell would connect with Dwayne Bowe at LSU, who ran a 4.49 at the Combine.

Compare that to the 40s for Johnnie Lee Higgins, Louis Murphy, and Darrius Heyward-Bey, and you'll see that Russell appears to be more comfortable with slower receivers. Heyward-Bey clocked-in around a 4.28, Higgins at around 4.35, and Murphy at about 4.3.

Chaz Schilens, considered Russell's go-to receiver of the future, clocked-in around 4.4.

Does the speed of a receiver necessarily have an effect on the quarterback's accuracy?

If so, would that mean that the receivers should slow down, or does Russell just need to compensate for it?

I would much rather hear answers to those questions than the speculation that Russell won't succeed, or speculation about what the Raiders could have been with Jeff Garcia.

JaMarcus Russell is the quarterback for the Oakland Raiders, so rather than sabotage his confidence with asinine speculation, I think we need to develop real questions that can dig to the bottom of his accuracy problem.

Rather than declare, "He's inaccurate," ask "Why has Russell been inaccurate?"

Had the Raiders merely sustained a few drives against San Diego, surely they would have had more points, but instead the Raiders had several three and outs in the third quarter due to incomplete passes.

On the positive side, Russell appeared more poised in the pocket and rarely ran. Russell was sacked only once against San Diego, and that came near the end of the game.

The unspoken stereotype has been that black quarterbacks are "running quarterbacks" or "run-around" quarterbacks as some writers have said, and that poise in the pocket is a sign of, 'maturity.'

I think we have seen that maturity from Russell, but when he throws at the speedy receivers, he has trouble.

Perhaps then, the receivers can take a word of advice, as the song once said, "Slow down, you move too fast."